


Of Friends and Dragons

by AshWinterGray



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Brotherly Steve Harrington & Dustin Henderson, Dragons, F/M, Protective Steve Harrington, Sad Will Byers, Scared Will Byers, Steve Harrington Needs a Hug, Steve Harrington is Lonely, Steve Harrington is a Sweetheart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-28
Updated: 2018-12-28
Packaged: 2019-09-28 21:31:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17190695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AshWinterGray/pseuds/AshWinterGray
Summary: Dustin really needed to learn not to bring home things he found in the woods. How he found it was beyond Steve, but he definitely wasn't going to let the guy keep it. Well, that had been the plan. Steve had wanted to kill it. Then it turned it's puppy dog eyes on Steve and Steve positively melted.





	Of Friends and Dragons

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know if you guys have noticed, but One-Shots (how do you spell these words?) are totally my thing. So here is another one, and I am debating on doing a New Year's special. It will be a Christmas and New Years mix if I do it.
> 
> Enjoy this one though.

            For once, it was one of those normal days were nothing seemed to happen. It was these days that Steve both loved and hated. Loved, because it meant there were no problems to deal with or monsters to fight. Hated, because that also meant that things were slow. After living off an adrenaline high and nightmares for the last few months, days where nothing happened had Steve constantly on edge. He was never going to be able to relax.

            Which was why he literally jumped ten feet in the air when there was a knock on his door.

            Taking a breath, Steve reminded himself that it was 1985. The gate was closed. His kids were safe. And none of them would be stupid enough to do something dumb.

            Those thoughts were dashed when he opened the door.

            “His Steve,” Dustin grinned up at him.

            In Dustin’s hand was a giant egg. Steve had half a mind to slam the door in Dustin’s face, but that would also mean the he would be leaving Dustin alone with a giant egg. The last time Dustin found a baby-something, everyone knew how that ended. He quickly yanked Dustin into the house, slammed the door, and rounded on the boy.

            “What is that?” Steve demanded pretty frantically. “Where on Earth did you get that? Why would you pick it up?”

            “Calm down, calm down,” Dustin said, taking that tone he used sometimes. A tone Steve really hated. “It’s just an egg. Nothing dangerous. See? Just an egg.”

            “A GIANT egg,” Steve snapped. “What if it’s a Demodog?”

            “Baby Demodogs aren’t this big,” Dustin stated, as if Dustin had ever seen a Demodog egg before. Besides, Joyce said they looked orange and glowy. This is clearly a white egg with freckles.”

            “Dustin!” Steve snapped.

            He didn’t get much further as the egg began to shake. Steve quickly raced to his car and grabbed the bat, thankful that his neighborhood had a lot of space between houses. Racing back into the house, he noticed Dustin had placed the hatching egg on the living room coffee table. Steve quickly yanked the younger back and prepared to swing.

            “No!” Dustin cried, grasping at Steve’s arms. “Please! Don’t kill it!”

            “We don’t even know what it is?” Steve growled back. “What if it tries to hurt you, or Will, or one of your other friends? What then, huh?”

            “Steve, please,” Dustin gave the puppy dog eyes.

            Normally, Steve would cave to the puppy dog eyes. He could never deny the kids things when they really begged because they had quickly learned what made Steve agree. But this, right here, Steve wasn’t going to budge even with puppy dog eyes.

            Or so he thought.

            A small sneeze took Steve and Dustin’s attention away from each other so that they were looking at something impossible. It was so small, so young, and had puppy eyes as big as Dustin’s.

            A literal dragon.

            It wasn’t red or angry, or a terrifying black. It was white, with blue eyes that were so big and innocent. It looked from Steve to Dustin before it sneezed again. But unlike popular stories, there was no fire to go with the sneeze. It was like the sneeze of a dog, or a cat, or any other normal animal. Just a sneeze with an odd shake of the animal’s head. Steve hadn’t even realized he had lowered the bat until Dustin spoke.

            “I don’t think that is a Demodog,” Dustin muttered, pure awe in his voice.

            “No,” Steve agreed as they watched the little guy unfurl his wings. “No, I don’t think it is.”

            It sneezed again and proceeded to fall off the coffee table. Both Steve and Dustin lunged for it, reaching out to grab it before it hit the ground. It fell into Steve’s palm, fitting perfectly. It didn’t have any teeth, so it nipped at Steve’s finger, tickling as it went.

            “I think it likes you,” Dustin grinned as they watched it settle and curl up in Steve’s palm. “And you wanted to kill it.”

            “Dustin,” Steve warned darkly.

            He couldn’t help it. The little thing looked so cute as Steve pulled it closer to his chest, cupping it with both hands. It was so small, like his kids.

            “Okay,” Steve sighed as he settled onto the floor, cradling the dragon close. “I won’t kill it.”

            Dustin beamed up at him.

\-----------------------------

            After a week, Steve learned a few things about his new living companion. But that’s getting ahead. Apparently, Dustin really wanted to see what the egg would hatch into, but he also couldn’t take whatever it was home. He decided the best place to keep a seemingly unknown creature was with Steve. Of course, Dustin had discovered weeks ago that Steve had not physically seen his parents in nearly six years, so Steve was alone. Dustin found that perfect.

            Back to the things he learned. Steve learned that he could not leave the dragon alone, first off. But it liked to live in his pocket, which was good, because it would take naps while Steve was at school, though it nearly bit Billy Hargrove. Steve had stopped it and gotten bit for his efforts. His little dragon just kept licking the bite marks whenever it saw them. Yeah, the bite marks scarred.

            He also learned that his new dragon would only eat raw meat for the first few days, which gave him painful flashbacks of the Demodogs, but he tried to ignore those. He did, however, also find out that the dragon liked cheese, and would eat any vegetables given to it so long as they were covered in cheese. Steve wasn’t sure of a dragon’s diet, but he wasn’t sure of a lot of things.

            The third thing Steve learned was that dragons liked to mark people. It was the first time the dragon had used fired, and he did it right on the back of Steve’s hand. And it wasn’t just some dumb mark. It was an intricate pattern of swirls and crossing lines. Steve often wore gloves and bandages to hide the mark. No one questioned it. Yet.

            The fact of the matter was, Steve knew nothing about dragons. So he was relieved when Dustin and his friends showed up with a bunch of library books on dragons.

            “So cute,” Max smiled, sticking her finger out to wiggle in front of the dragon. The dragon watched the finger before latching onto it with its tiny front legs.

            “If you think it’s cute now,” Steve hummed. “Then you’ll think it’s adorable when I tell you how it tried to bite Billy Hargrove.”

            Max grinned wider.

            “We can’t keep calling it an “it”,” Dustin stated firmly. “So we need to figure out everything we can about dragons, so we can take care of it.”

            “You mean so _I_ can take care of it,” Steve huffed with a roll of his eyes.

            “That too,” Dustin grinned and threw open a book.

            The stared at the books, most of them folklore, for hours. Until Steve caught something in the book Mike was reading. He slammed his hand onto the page before Mike could turn it, much to the boy’s protest. Mike stopped protesting as Steve tore off the bandage.

            “What the heck?” Mike breathed as he looked from Steve’s scar to the pattern at the bottom of the page.

            “Did the dragon give you that?” Will questioned as he leaned over the two.

            Steve nodded, and Dustin gasped.

            “I saw that pattern,” Dustin exclaimed. “It was on the cover of a book at the library. Lucas, Max, you guys help me return these books and find the other book. “Will, Mike, help Steve look through this book and see if you can find anything and everything.”

            “But this book is a joke,” Mike scoffed. “It says dragons like cheese.”

            Steve laughed. “No,” Steve glanced at Mike. “That is true. It’s the only way this little guy would eat its vegetables.”

            “You fed it vegetables,” Lucas questioned as if it was absurd.

            “The book says it needs vegetables,” Mike said, skimming the pages.

            “Write it down!” Dustin called. “Write it all down! We’ll be back!”

            The learned dragons like cheese, need veggies, learn to fly around the five months old. Grow quickly. And a few other bizzare facts were present, but they only took up two pages of long paragraphed facts and information. There was nothing on determining gender or what the mark could mean.

            Until Dustin slammed a giant tome down on the coffee table. The little dragon, who had been perched on Steve’s shoulder, practically fell off at the loud sound.

            “I bought this for fifty cents,” Dustin heaved as Lucas and Max collapsed by the door.

            “You bought it?” Steve gaped at the kids. “What do you mean, you bought it?”

            “She was getting rid of it,” Lucas sighed, still panting from what was obviously a long walk with a giant book. “Like “weeding” or something. Dustin begged her to let him have it.”

            Will was already opening the book. He flipped six pages in before looking from the dragon and too the book.

            “Your dragon is a girl,” Will stated. “No horns mean it is a girl, and she would have had the horns at birth.”

            Great, now Steve had to name her. What on Earth was one supposed to name a dragon?

            “Let’s find the mark,” Mike was already getting into this. “Figure out what that means.”

            The five kids quickly surrounded the tome as Steve let the dragon settle into his cupped hands. She had grown enough that Steve had to use both hands to hold her. Her eyes were a very pretty shade of blue.

            “Bluebell,” Steve hummed, just loud enough for the kids to stop talking. “I’m going to name you Bluebell.”

            “Bluebell?” Dustin gaped, positively scandalized. “Steve, your naming privileges have been revoked.”

            _Bluebell._

            Steve bulked and nearly dropped the dragon. Because that was so clearly from the dragon, and Steve was certain her lips had not moved. She stared up at Steve, a twinkle in her eyes.

            _Bluebell. Steve. Bluebell. Steve._

            “Find out what the mark means,” Steve demanded as he stared down at his dragon. “Now!”

            The others hadn’t heard it, that much was clear by the looks on their faces. But the desperation in Steve’s voice was enough to get them moving. His dragon spoke to him, through telepathy. He really hoped the mark could answer these questions.

            “Here!” Will slammed his hand onto a page. “Look! This says there are several different marks.”

            “Yeah,” Dustin nodded, quickly flipping a few more pages. “Steve, according to this, you are a dragon keeper.”

             “What does that mean?” Steve demanded.

            “This says,” Will skimmed, obviously the faster reader of the group. “Oh! Basically, you are like a protector. You care for the dragon and it will care for you in return. Like, it will talk to you and watch over you.”

            That explained the telepathy and almost attacking Billy.

            “It also says the mark will change,” Lucas picked up. “Like, depending on your relationship with your dragon. It could become Master-Servant, Friends, Family, or a few others. It all depends on how you treat the dragon and the dragon treats you.”

            This was all way to complicated.

\-------------------------------

            _Jerk._

            It had been about six months since Bluebell joined Steve, and the dragon did not like Billy Hargrove one bit. Right now, only Steve, the five kids, and maybe El knew of their little secret. Steve spent his time not doing homework by studying the tome. It meant he was mostly confided to his house, but it was better that way.

            Bluebell had gotten too big, couldn’t come with him to school. And his dragon was clingy and needy. She was also extremely sarcastic.

            Billy had just come to pick up Max. Steve was going to take Dustin and Lucas home, but Mike and Will were waiting on Nancy and Jonathan.

            Chuckling at his dragon, Steve let her curl around him as she often did at night, and he let himself relax. Which was a mistake because he left the door cracked and the couple decided to let themselves in.

            “Steve!” Nancy screeched, already digging for her gun.

            “Get back!” Jonathan cried as he pulled the kids behind him. “Stay back!”

            “Stop!” Will cried, already fighting his brother.

            “Nancy! No!” Mike cried.

            “Leave them alone!” Dustin screamed.

            “Run, Bluebell!” Lucas hollered.

            Nancy did not end up firing the gun because Steve was standing in front of her, blocking the dragon from shooting range. Steve had stretched out his body in a vain attempt to protect the dragon that had been curled around him.

            “Don’t,” he stated simply.

            The only thing Steve could think was that he was going to protect his dragon or die trying. That, and that this was not how he wanted to tell anyone about his dragons either.

            _Steve._

            That sounded so scared and helpless that Steve spun around and pulled Bluebell’s head close.

            “It’s okay, Bluebell,” Steve cooed into her snout. “It’s all okay. I’m okay. You’re okay.”

            _Don’t do that. Don’t die for me._

            “Okay,” he whispered. “Okay. Okay. Okay.”

            The explanation gave Steve a headache.

\-------------------------

            Bluebell marked Will a few days later. Much to everyone’s surprise as she had been so adamant about not marking the kids in the past. But she gave Will a mark, making herself his guardian. It was during a sleepover Steve agreed to host, minus Jane, though Steve had been trying to convince the chief. Steve hadn’t even known it happened until Jonathan showed up on his doorstep two days later.

            “Where the heck is it?” Jonathan roared.

            “What?” Steve bulked as he was shoved out of the way.

            “Jonathan!” Will raced in after his brother. “Just listen to me!”

            “It burned you!” Jonathan roared. And Steve had never seen Jonathan so livid. “It hurt you! That thing can’t live if it is going to hurt people.”

            “Jonathan!” Will snapped again to no avail.

            Joyce was in the house too, looked terrified as she held her youngest son back. She looked at Steve, disappointed. Steve dashed out the back door, Jonathan following after Steve. But Steve was gone, Bluebell carrying him away on her back.

_I’m sorry. He was scared I just wanted to protect him._

“I know,” Steve cooed to his dragon. There was a cave near the quarry that Bluebell had found. They were going to hide there until they decided what to do next. “It’s not your fault. You didn’t know any better. But we have to ask before we mark people, okay?”

            _We could find others. We would be safe with others like us. With other keepers._

            Steve had read in the tome that dragons could sense and find others. He and Bluebell had often talked about it, but neither wanted to leave the kids. They had a reason to leave now.

            “We can go tomorrow,” Steve hummed softly back. “If that is what you really want.”

            They left just before dawn the next morning.

\---------------------

            Two years since they had left, and Steve found himself traveling with Bluebell, learning more about dragons from other keepers, but never staying in one place for too long. He couldn’t bare it. Bluebell noticed his longing, she could feel it too, but he would deny any attempt she made take them back to Hawkins. He had the power to do that as her keeper, even if it hurt.

            But there was one thing Steve could not stop.

            Bluebell sensed it first, suddenly becoming tense and growling at nothing. Before Steve could ask what was wrong, he felt it too.

            Will was in danger.

            He didn’t have time to question it as he swung onto his dragon’s back and shouted at her to go. Normally, Steve hated it when Bluebell would zip through the sky, but he wasn’t set to enjoy it this time. _Will Byers was in danger._ That could literally mean _anything._

            In no time at all, Bluebell had them hovering just out of sight where they could see Will. Steve’s breath caught in his throat as Troy, a bully Steve had heard too much about, was trying to cut Will’s hair with a knife. Bluebell had chucked a rock at the bully before Steve could even blink. Troy quickly scrambled away before the rock could hit him, but Bluebell wasn’t done, she kept throwing things at Troy, making sure to growl with each effort. While Troy was distracted, Steve managed to drag Will to their hiding place. Then Bluebell had them at Castle Byers before either could breathe.

            “Steve,” Will sobbed out as he clutched the older boy’s shirt. “Steve.”

            “I’ve got you buddy,” Steve cooed gently. “I’ve got you. See? You’re alright now. Bluebell and I are here.”

            Bluebell’s tail curled around them, pulling them against her rough side.

            _You are safe now, little one. We have you now._

Will curled into them both, sniffling and tugging at his ruined hair. Steve would need to fix that before they took Will home. Good thing he had a saddle now, something the other keepers insisted he have. There were quite a few bags attached to the saddle, and Steve just happened to have a pair of scissors. He tilted Will’s head up and began to fix Troy’s work. Will just leaned into Bluebell’s side the whole time, soft sniffs escaping him every so often.

            They walked back to the Byers’ house, or, Will rode on Bluebell’s back as Steve and Bluebell walked. Will kept asking questions, and Bluebell just walked slower and slower as they approached. Steve didn’t mind. He was walking slower too. Will just kept chatting and asking questions until the house came in sight, unaware of the other two’s discomfort.

            “Mom!” Will called at the house as he slid off the dragons back. “Mom! Come quick!”

            Steve was already climbing onto Bluebell’s back as Joyce rushed outside. Bluebell was slowly backing away, making it slightly harder for Steve to clamber in. That was probably why Joyce got the chance to say anything.

            “Don’t go!” she called out to them as Bluebell began to hunch. “Please! Don’t go! We’re sorry!”

            Steve could feel the overwhelming pressure of Bluebell’s fear as Jonathan stepped outside. Her body was shaking, and Steve had no doubt his body mimicked her own. He was terrified for his dragon.

            “I’m sorry,” Jonathan apologized as he placed a careful hand on Bluebell’s nose. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.”

            “Steve, honey,” Joyce moved to place a hand on arm. “Please stay. We are so sorry. Please. The kids miss you. We miss you.”

            It was Will who eventually led Steve and Bluebell into the house. Hopper and Jane were also inside, and Steve took a moment to stare at the wedding ring on both Hopper and Joyce’s fingers. He’d missed a lot.

            Jane, who had never met Bluebell before, marveled at the dragon as Joyce fussed over Will’s newly cut hair. It was barely ten minutes later that saw the rest of the kids and Nancy at the Byers’ house. Dustin even brought over that old tome.

            “A family mark,” Dustin mussed as they all stared at the way Steve’s mark had changed. “That’s cute.”

            “We’ve been on our own for some time,” Steve chuckled as he massaged Bluebell’s head. He missed the pained looks on everyone’s faces. “We met others though, other dragon keepers. They taught us some things. It been interesting.”

            “Are you going to leave again?” Max found the words flying past her lips.

            Bluebell let her tail curl around Steve’s leg as he stopped petting her head.

            “Yes.”

            They were gone before the others woke up the next morning. But each one of them woke with a new mark on the back of their hand.

\-----------------------

            Three years later found a terror worse than all of Hawkins had seen before. The Mind-Flayer had been busy. No one in Hawkins was exempt from the knowledge that the Gate had been reopened and the Mind-Flayer was going to kill them.

            They were running out of options too.

            It was as Chief Hopper was about to be eaten, much like Bob Newby had been, that a savior came. Bluebell was more than happy to burn the Demodogs to a crisp as they tried to attack one of those under her protection. Steve and Bluebell brought help too, other dragon keepers they had met.

            The effort it took to kill the Mind-Flayer once and for all had Steve and Bluebell unconscious in the Hopper-Byers house for nearly six months. People would stop by, talk to the two. Thank the two. All of Hawkins new of the dragon and her keeper. When Steve and Bluebell finally woke up, it was to Nancy and Jonathan bringing home their baby son. The soft wails woke the two up.

            Steve was a very proud godfather. And if the baby had a mark on the back of his hand, no one batted an eye.

            Hawkins had a new protector. Their own little secret.

**Author's Note:**

> I've already got a Oneshot (please, someone tell me how these two words are supposed to be spelled) ready for tomorrow.
> 
> I wrote this one shot (see what I mean?) a month ago, but hated the original ending.


End file.
